American Go E-Journal » Go World

For the first time in the history of the LG Cup, there are no Koreans in the quarter final line-up. Korean fans were left in shock after Tuo Jiaxi 3P (left) knocked out Lee Sedol 9P (right) in a game with a very unusual opening. Japan continued the charge through the draw, with two of the Japanese players, Iyama Yuta 9P and Takao Shinji 9P, making it through, while Kono Rin 9P was defeated by Chen Yaoye 9P. This is the first time Japanese players have made it through to the quarter finals of the LG Cup since 2008, when Kono Rin did so. If Iyama or Takao manages to win the 18th LG Cup, it will be Japan’s first victory in this tournament since O Rissei (who was born in Taiwan) won it in 1998. There are six Chinese players still in the draw. The most notable is Li Zhe 6P, who is making an amazing comeback from his sabbatical, storming his way to the quarter final. Chen, Tuo and Li will be joined by their countrymen, Zhou Ruiyang 9P, Li Qincheng 1P and Xia Chenkun 2P. The two youngsters, Xia Chenkun and Li Qincheng, could turn out to be the dark horses in this competition, as China has some frighteningly strong children coming through the ranks. Though the quarter finals and semifinals will not take place until November, Japanese finalists Iyama and Takao will duel it out in the fourth game of the Honinbo on June 17 and 18. Meanwhile, Chinese finalist Chen Yaoye will compete against defending champion Lee Sedol on the international front at the Chunlan Cup also on June 17.-Annalia Linnan, based on reports — including pairings, photos, and game records — on Go Game Guru. photo at bottom left: Team Japan (from left, clockwise): Kono Rin, Takao Shinji, Yamashiro Hiroshi, Iyama Yuta and Hane Naoki.

Now that Go World magazine has ceased publication (EJ 11/16/12) , back issues of this matchless archive of top analysis and instruction have become more valuable than ever. The American Go Foundation’s Store offers a selection, and the first 108 issues are also available as PDFs from Kiseido Digital. The AGF was delighted to recently receive a generous donation of hundreds of oldies but goodies from the publisher, including twenty issues that have never been available from the AGF before. Click here to browse the contents of all but the last seven issues. If you’re unfamiliar with this great resource, download a free sample issue of Go World and check it out. A total of more than 50 back issues are now available to AGA members, and AGF programs. Click here to order from the AGF, who will ship anywhere in the US. If you enjoy the “real feel” of actual paper-and-ink, act now — when they’re gone, they’re gone! Still missing an elusive issue? Kiseido is offering all back issues from #72 – #124 on at $8/each including airmail from Japan. Issue #125-129 are $10/each. Some earlier issues are also available. Click here to find more info about Kiseido’s offer (at the bottom of the page). -Roy Laird

Though neither the Korean Baduk Association nor the Chinese Weiqi Association have officially confirmed whether the rumored 10-game match, or jubango, between Sedol Lee 9P (right)and Li Gu 9P (left) will actually occur, buzz surrounding the potential match hints otherwise. Major Korean newspaper Dong-A Ilbo reports that “both players have agreed to play the ten games between October 2013 and May 2014, in various locations throughout China.”

While some details remain fuzzy, including venues and exact dates, news reports claim the budget for the match is estimated to be approximately $1.15 million USD. The reason Lee cites for this sum is the damage the loser’s reputation will suffer “throughout the go world and in the history books.” As many fans hail Lee as Korea’s top player and Gu remains the top Chinese player, his concern is understandable. It is not personal, however. In an interview after their most recent match (March 20), Lee said, “Gu Li is the best rival for me to play against, but he’s also a best friend of mine for life.” Gu echoed the sibling-esque rivalry when he said, “I always fight intensely whenever I play against Lee Sedol. I’d like to create more exciting games for go fans.”

So, is it still possible? Will the two players, born the same year and then became pro together twelve years later, have a face-off like never before? Korean player An Younggil 8p says that despite the missing pieces “we have reasons to be optimistic.”

Right now, Lee and Gu’s official record is 17-15 with Gu in the lead (17-17 if one includes exhibition games). For more details surrounding the Lee-Gu jubango, visit Go Game Guru.

Junfu Dai 8D (right) successfully defended his title against Lluis Oh 6D in the 41st Paris International Go Tournament at the Lycée Louis Le Grand on April 1. Though it was the first time Spanish player Oh placed, it was Dai’s third victory in four years, a reign broken only by Liu Yuanbo’s win in 2011. However, there may still be hope for Oh, as Dai was runner-up in 1996 and 2008 before he finally became champion. Joining Dai and Oh in the ranks as top Europeans is Romanian player Cristian Pop 7D. No stranger to tournaments, Pop has won the championship in his home country six times. Founded in 1972, the annual Paris International Go Tournament now holds a level 5 ECup rating and is hailed as “one of the largest go events in Europe behind the European Go Congress.” For more information about this year’s tournament including rules, registered players, and results, visit the official Paris 2013 website.- Annalia Linnan; photo courtesy EuroGoTV, which includes selected game records

During the Edo period a go club, like a tea ceremony room or a kyoka poetry meeting, was a place where rank, station and sex were irrelevant: what mattered most was the skill of the participants. Such people came as close to forming a genuine meritocracy as was possible in class-conscious Japan in those days, and this must have been a large part of go’s appeal to new players.

The fact that go requires deep concentration over relatively long periods of time naturally leads to absent-mindedness in everything unrelated to the game at hand. The absent-minded go player is a stock joke in Japan like the absent-minded professor in the West. A fine example of this is the old story called Go Doro, ‘the Go Burglar,’ several versions of which are preserved in the public story-telling tradition of the Edo and Meiji periods.

Two friends who were addicted to go and were pretty evenly matched used to play every night until very late, so wrapped up in their games that they were oblivious to everything around them. This was a great nuisance to their families, but the worst part of it was their habit of smoking, for they were always spilling hot ash and making holes in the tatami as they lit their pipes from the burning coal in the tobacco tray.

Their wives kept scolding them about this until they had to quit playing altogether. But they couldn’t keep from thinking about go and wishing they could play again. One evening they hit upon a plan. “Let’s just stop smoking while we play! Instead, we”ll go out and have a pipe after each game!”

It’s a splendid idea, but of course they forget about it as soon as they get into their first game and start fiddling with their pipes. After a while one of them notices something. “Oy!” he calls out. “There’s no coal in the tobacco tray!” The wife thinks to herself “If I put a coal in the tray they’ll start burning holes in the tatami all over again. I’ll find something red and bring that instead.”

So from the kitchen she brings in a small red vegetable called a snake gourd and carefully pokes it down into the ashes of the tobacco tray, where it looks just like a bit of burning coal. The men don’t notice a thing, and after a while the wife goes to bed, satisfied that she has nothing more to worry about. On and on the two friends play, frowning and muttering at the go board, sucking away at their pipes and having a great old time.

Later that night a burglar sneaks into the back of the house. He stealthily fills his bag with everything he can get his hands on and hoists it over his shoulder. Just as he is about the take off he hears the click of a go stone. The burglar plays go too, so when that sound comes his curiosity is aroused. With the bag still slung over his shoulder he tiptoes toward the room where the two friends are playing and peeks through the door.

At first he just stands there, watching, but then moves close, bit by bit, until he’s right beside them. One player is about to make a move. the burglar simply can’t control himself. “That’s no good!” he exclaims, putting down the bag. “You ought to play on the other side!” A typical kibitzer’s remark.

Both men are studying the board. “Hey, onlookers are supposed to keep quiet,” says one. “This happens to be a crucial moment in the game.” He glances up briefly. “Who might you be, anyway?” he asks. Click goes a stone onto the board.

Originally published in Go World #45 (Autumn 1986); click here to find out more about Go World. graphic: cover of GW#95; a surinomo by Utamaro entitled Gods Playing Go. Date unknown. Recalling the Ranka theme, Utamaro depicts (from left to right) Juroujin (the god of Longevity), Benzaiten (the Goddess of Good Fortune), and Bishamonten (the God of Riches) engaged in a game of go (from the collection of Erwin Gerstorfer).

Wouldn’t it be great if, just as your final overtime period was about to expire, you suddenly got another 5 minutes to play? That’s exactly what’s happened with our special Go World offer. Join or renew your AGA membership by June 8 (extended from May 31) and we’ll send you up to 1,700 pages of great stuff! Go World magazine, Kiseido’s quarterly go publication, is the ultimate source of go knowledge in English. Each 64-page issue is packed with extensive review of at least ten major title match games by top professionals as well as problems, instructional articles and series, and coverage of historical, cultural and other aspects of the game. Even if you’re already a member, now’s the time to add more years, and the more you add, the better it gets! Here’s how it breaks down: 1 year ($30) — your choice of any 3 issues (192 pages); 2 years ($50) — your choice of any 7 issues (448 pages); 3 years ($75) — your choice of any 12 issues (768 pages); 4 years ($100) — your choice of any 18 issues (1152 pages); 5 years — ($125) — all 27 issues! (1728 pages). Click here for details and to take advantage of this offer; after June 8, time is up!

NOTE: If you joined the AGA during the recent membership drive, you must download and submit the order form with your selected issues in order to receive your Go World premium(unless you joined for five years, in which case we’re sending all 27 available issues.) Some of our new and renewing members are losing out on the copies of Go World they’re entitled to, because they didn’t tell us which issues they want. Click here if you need to select your issues. Please allow 4-6 weeks for delivery.

New or renewing members of the American Go Association can pick up as much as 1700 pages of Go World in a special membership offer. For a limited time, the AGA is offering as many as 27 issues of Go World magazine to those who join, re-join or renew their memberships. Go World, Kiseido’s quarterly publication, is the ultimate source of go knowledge in English, each 64-page issue is packed with extensive review of at least ten major title match games by top professionals as well as problems, instructional articles and series, and coverage of historical, cultural and other aspects of the game. “If you’ve been thinking about joining, now’s the time to do so,” says AGA President Allan Abramson. “And even if you’re already a member, this is a great opportunity to renew and collect a nice bonus; and the more ears you add, the better it gets!” Click here for complete details on how to take advantage of this offer, plus download a free sample of Go World. “The AGA is grateful to the American Go Foundation for making this special offer possible,” Abramson added.

“I don’t know whether or not I’m a genius. Even if they call me a genius, I am not sure if it is a suitable term. And even if it is a suitable term, you really have to like go in order to keep playing. But I do like go very much. In that sense, anyone who keeps playing go could be called a genius.”

“If a player has a natural source of momentum and vigor, I believe that somehow changes into luck. So in a sense there is a vigor in me that just wells up. I think that is the source of my strength. This inner strength is necessary. In international tournaments and those in Korea and China, three hours has become standard, so I think that explosive power is required to exert all your strength in a short time.”

- excerpted from the Autumn 2010 issue of Go World, the quarterly magazine covering the international go scene; interview by Miyazaki Yutaro 6P, translated by Rob van Zeijst. The Member’s Edition of the E-Journal includes an excerpt of the Fujitsu final game, with commentary by Kobayashi Satoru; click here to sign up for the Member’s Edition.